


i'm always in this twilight (in the shadow of your heart)

by zenithaurora



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, F/F, Forbidden Love, Origin Myths, Romeo And Juliet But Make It Gay, Secret Relationship, The moon is a lesbian, tui and la
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenithaurora/pseuds/zenithaurora
Summary: "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light".Or, the origins of Tui and La.
Relationships: Katara/Yue (Avatar)
Kudos: 16
Collections: Winter ATLA Femslash Week 2021





	i'm always in this twilight (in the shadow of your heart)

The world began in the darkness.

Humanity rejoiced in the warmth and safety of the sunlight, and feared the night as there was no light to shelter them of the dangers hiding in the shadows. A dark spirit named Unnuak inhabited and haunted these inhospitable frozen lands, creeping on those who were too unfortunate to not find refuge before dusk, and dooming their souls to eternal damnation in the Spirit World.

No one that left their homes after dark, survived the night.

Herds of buffalo yacks and polar bear dogs and flocks of tiger seals and otter penguins fled these cursed lands in search of a more benevolent place to live. Due to this, the Tagiuk, leaded by Chief Hakoda and the Tatkik, leaded by Chief Arnook, two enemy tribes, were in a never-ending conflict for the limited resources. Their chiefs before them had long ago marked the frontiers of their hunting grounds, and no one was allowed to cross these lines. If they did, the enemy tribe wouldn’t hesitate to kill the trespasser.

However, there was one moment that the both tribes felt free to put down their weapons and come out at night. Once every six years, a green smudge of light would materialize in the black sky, offering protection from Unnuak. The tribes called it Kiiguyat. In spite of the constant hostility between these two groups, they would always come out after dusk during that moment, and celebrate together for a night with light.

One of the most important parts of the Kiiguyat celebrations, and one of the few things the two tribes could agree on, was on the importance of dancing in every ceremony.

Two young women exchanged glances across the snowed squared patch that served as a dancing floor and found themselves completely lost in the beauty of the other person. Without lowering their gazes, the two women closed the distance, evading the people dancing to the booming of the drums beating at the beat of their heartbeats.

They danced together, swiftly moving their feet, scattering chunks of snow in all directions, until their panting breaths commanded them to stop and rest. The bronze-skinned woman felt a rush of hot boldness flash through her heart, and she took the hand of the other woman, guiding her somewhere quieter away from the crowd, to the edge of the frozen ocean.

“My name is Katara” the woman presented herself. A few drops of sweat were still sliding down the slope of her cheeks, and her smile was glistening just as much.

“Yue” the other woman breathed, fascinated by the beauty of this stranger, to which she only knew her name so far.

They spent the remaining of the night under the shelter of the green lights together. When dawn announced the end of the festival, they reluctantly parted ways, with sorrow in their hearts stagnating their movements.

The two women weren’t stupid; they have both been present in political discussions regarding their own tribes. They also knew this was the only time both tribes were allowed to interact amicably, without the imminent threat of Unnuak or the beginning of an explosive conflict that could lead to the doom of their tribes. In spite of whatever feelings that may have been flourishing between the two of them, the laws established by their fathers and chiefs of their tribes would never allow such union.

Days in solitude passed. The two young women would spend their waking hours thinking about the other one, and then some more in their restless sleep. Although they knew that a love like theirs was strictly forbidden, their hearts were too stubborn to listen to reason.

It was six days after they first meeting that the two women took faith in their hands and decided to see each other again on the outskirts of their tribes’ territory. They would stay put on the ground with their legs crossed and their stares fixated on each other, never allowing not even the slight inch of their fingertips to touch as to not cross the border separating their tribes.

The two women rushed through their chores so they could meet each other after noon and leave before dusk with heavy hearts. Their time together was so limited that before parting they would exchange letters so they could be with the one they loved a little longer, even if it was just in words and delusional dreams. They often wondered, fantasied about the possibilities, or if only they could touch each other’s hands— if only they didn’t have to hide.

“We could always run away together” Yue suggested one day, her lips inches away from Katara’s.

“We would be killed by Unnuak” she differed, “and bring damnation to our tribes for turning our backs on them”.

“We could leave during the next Kiiguyat Festival, when we are protected by the green lights” Yue insisted.

Katara raised one skeptical eyebrow. “The next one it’s almost four years away” Katara reasoned, and the smile she was wearing before faltered into a thin line of disappointment on her face.

The good mood from before died, leading to a desolate silence, only rarely interrupted by the sibilant wind. It was something they had discussed before, toyed with the idea of running away together to some dreamland away from conflict. However, even if they were able to avoid the lethal claws of Unnuak, there was no guarantee that they could ever survive on their own.

There was no use in dreaming. Yue stared at her lap, the letter she was given by Katara balancing on her shaky hands. She enjoyed reading her letters when the sun was setting down. If she concentrated hard enough, she could almost feel the sensation of her arms wrapped around her stomach, the warmth of her breathes on her ear lobe. She knows it wasn’t a product of her wild imagination; she has had a taste of her in the previous festival, and she didn’t think she could wait years until she could feel her again.

“I wish we could find refuge in the lights every night” Yue prompted, breaking the silence.

Katara lifted her sight to look at her. After noticing the crestfallen expression plastered on her face, she felt her heart ached for her, aching for them and for what they couldn’t have.

“I wish our tribes didn’t hate each other”, she lamented. “I wish there was something that would unite them”.

They parted ways under the light of the sun setting on the horizon, the two of them holding their letters close to their chests filled with overwhelming sorrow.

That night, Yue’s father entered her bedroom and announced that she was meant to marry a young man named Hahn the following day at noon. Although Yue knew that she was of marriage age and because, as the daughter of the Chief, she was greatly desired by many men, she wasn’t expecting this to happen so soon. Panic bubbled in her chest, threatening to rise up her throat. She wanted to yell at her father, declare that she was in love with someone else, but she remained quiet, dwelling on the lack of courage of her convictions.

She couldn’t stay there; she couldn’t get married to someone that she didn’t love when her heart already belonged to someone else.

After her father left the room with no room for further discussion, Yue packed some clothing and food in her tote bag, put on her parka and mittens, and tiptoed to the front door of her house, hoping the rustling of the snow wouldn’t wake up her parents.

Yue closed the door slowly, with only one objective in mind: get to Katara. She knew it was a suicide mission to get out after dark or to cross the border, but her limbs froze at the mere thought of being forced to marry someone that wasn’t Katara. She readied herself with one deep breath and began running in direction to enemy territory.

Snowflakes hit her face at maximum speed, cutting tiny, invisible scars into the soft skin of her face. The dry, frozen air kissed her lungs with a sharp lethality, making it harder to breath. Her legs were tired with exhaustion, but she knew she couldn’t stop here, not at the mercy of the blizzard, and not at the mercy of—

A shrilling scream broke through the quiet of the night, echoing in the maze of trees and sending a shiver down her spine.

_Unnuak._

She had the fraction of a second to notice the pale, hairless creature and stare at her terrified expression reflected on his yellow eyes before she was torn apart by his crushing jaw.

What was left of her brittle body was found at the break of dawn of the next morning in Tagiuk territory. When the Tatkik tribe was informed that the Chief’s daughter dead body was found in enemy’s land, they didn’t hesitate to accuse the Tagiuk of being the culprits behind her murder.

Rumors of a possible war erupting between the two tribes provoked fear and fury in the hearts of everyone, with only one exception.

Katara didn’t want to believe the words that were spoken between her fellow tribesmen: that Yue had met a destiny far worse than death.

While the rest of her tribe, including her father and her brother, were preparing for an imminent war, grief lashed on her in waves of grueling hurt, consuming the spirit within her. She didn’t want to come to terms with the fact that she was never going to see Yue again: her gentle smile when she blushed, the wrinkle of her kind eyes whenever she laughed, the tender touch of her hands that she had the opportunity to feel only one night and that she had been craving for ever since. All that was lost to the nothingness of an eternity without peace.

She recalled the last conversation they had shared. With a heavy heart, she realized there was only one thing she could so Yue could rest in peace: granting her what she desired the most.

When the twilight gave in total darkness, Katara emerged from her home, armed just with just her brother’s jaw bone knife, ready to face Unnuak. In spite of all the warning tales she has been told by her grandmother in her childhood, Katara wasn’t scared; she was devastated and mad. She needed to face the monster, and make Yue’s death matters.

The creature didn’t take long to make its appearance, eager to take on a new victim so recently after the last one. Katara stared at the creature, with his bones jutting out and his piercing, grim eyes boring into her, creeping on the depths of her spirit and her grief.

Katara didn’t hesitate for a second, and threw herself at the monster. She stabbed him repeatedly without making distinction of where she stabbing at. However, Unnuak was too agile for her; she was no match for the legendary creature.

Her parka was darkened with bloodstains. She pressed her forearm against her right side in an attempt to stop the flow of one particularly deep wound and her sight was blurred by the blood that was coming out of a large gash on top of one of her eyebrows. On the other hand, she still held the knife, ready to fight back, even though she knew that at that point, it was lost battle.

She could see the droplets of her blood on his white sharp teeth, wide open so that she could the reflection of her failure. He slithered towards her, mocking her for even thinking that she had a chance at defeating him, prolonging her misery.

She lowered her head, waiting for her imminent demise.

All of a sudden, a soft glow hit the snow patch in front of her. Intrigued, she raised her eyes only to find herself speechless at the wonderful sight in front of her. On the sky, there was a giant, white sphere illuminating the gelid lands.

_“I wish we could find refuge in the lights every night”._

“Yue?” Katara whimpered.

Katara was disrupted of her thoughts by the scene that was taking place right in front of her eyes. Unnuak, the mighty and powerful Unnuak that had been haunting her tribe from dozens, maybe even thousands of generations ago, was twisting and turning on the ground. His groans of pain were accompanied by his shrieks that still managed to make Katara shiver. At last, he lost his battle; the monster yielded at the purifying light of Yue.

Katara, in spite of the hot ache on her side, managed to reach her home, as twilight was giving in for the dawn of a new day.

Peace was declared between the two enemy tribes, and for the first time in millenniums, humans could go outside after dark every night. Spontaneous parties erupted between the two tribes, and a week-long festival was declared to celebrate the death of Unnuak and a new era marked by the lack of his presence.

Katara escaped the bustling crowd, and went to the brims of the ocean where she fell in love with Yue. She kneeled on the shore and stared at her reflection on the frozen water. There was no point in celebrating when she wasn’t here with her.

She crumpled in herself, and let the tears fall freely down in her lap. She barely held herself together with her trembling arms wrapped around her torso, willing for someone or something to rid her of her grief.

The light became brighter.

“Katara” Yue said. Her voice sounded so far away.

She shined over the ice, so thin that she could almost see the water move beneath it.

“I just wanted for us to be together” Katara wept. Her tears were hot against her cold skin.

“There is one way” Yue stated.

The ice melted right before her eyes, and she shined over the gelid, murky water. Katara extended one hand and touched the ocean with the tip of her mitten-covered index finger. She gasped when the ocean shined.

“There is one way” Yue repeated, and her light intensified, reflecting on the open waters.

Katara finally understood, and threw herself into the body of water. Her body dissolved in the currents, joining the ocean.

And so, for the rest of eternity, the moon spirit would shine on those unfortunate enough to not find shelter at night, protecting them from the spirits that were hiding in the shadows, and the ocean spirit would protect those who were stranded at sea, and bring food to those who were waiting in the villages.

After many tribulations, Yue and Katara were finally connected, meeting each other every night in an eternal dance.

Many generations after, when there was no one left to remember the existence of Unnuak as something some than a bedtime story, the two tribes found the letters the two women used to exchange between each. Although the calligraphy was smudged and stained on most of the paper, their people deduced their names, and called them Tui and La, Push and Pull, forever keeping balance and protecting their people together.

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on 'Cosmic Love' by Florence & The Machine.


End file.
